As a result of ever advancing techniques, piles can be driven into the ground with increasing accuracy and with minimum disturbance, but it is still recognized that it is difficult to drive a pile with total positional accuracy and with truly vertical orientation. Such conditions can be required if a tall member is to be supported on the top of a pile or an assembly of piles, whether the tall member is free-standing, for example a lamp standard or a flag pole, or part of a larger structure, for example an upright member of a portal frame.
The commonly employed practice for fixing tall members, such as lamp standards or flag poles, in the ground is to excavate a footing hole in the ground and then cast in the footing hole a mass of cementitious material sufficient to provide an adequate foundation for the tall member. This procedure is not only costly in materials but is also time consuming and inconvenient. It is well known that modern pile formation techniques can position piles giving sufficient load bearing capability at almost any location with the minimum of disruption to the surroundings, but it is also recognized that with the commonly employed pile formation techniques the piles cannot be positioned with total accuracy or guaranteed verticality.